


The Court-martial of Poe Dameron

by TigStripe



Series: End of an Era [3]
Category: Star Wars, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Court Martial, Drama, Family, Gen, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-12
Updated: 2018-01-13
Packaged: 2019-03-03 23:04:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13351371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TigStripe/pseuds/TigStripe
Summary: With the Resistance stable on Yavin IV, normal operations must continue. That includes punishments for unapproved, suicide missions in the absence of General Organa.





	1. Standing Trial

**Author's Note:**

> Part of 2 of the End of an Era series, which uses my canon rewrite "Make Your Own Hope" as its canon. This story will probably utilize the rewrite the most, since it deals directly with Poe's involvement with the Canto Bight mission. A general summary of the canon rewrite is found in Finn's testimony, so if you need a refresher or haven't read my rewrite, it's laid out for you there.

It had been three days since the _Millennium Falcon_ had led the settlement of Yavin IV by the remnants of the Resistance. They'd assimilated an old Rebellion base from the Galactic Civil War, only a few dozen kilometers from the Republic settlement of Beyton. Finally, everyone's duties were becoming more clear.

Finn was assigned as a Captain of the Resistance, thanks to his heroic efforts at Starkiller base and previous training as a Stormtrooper. When Poe found out, he was ecstatic – Finn finally had a place among the Resistance. Finn was happy he finally had something to be called other than “Finn” or “ex-Stormtrooper.”

Rey, however, tried to refuse a rank within the organization. Her argument was simple: “I'm not a soldier.” Leia argued that neither was Commander Luke Skywalker. Rey finally accepted an honorary title of Captain. She was informed that, if she were ever to accompany Resistance members into the field, they would respect her rank, but otherwise, she was not bound to the pomp and circumstance of military life. This suited Rey just fine.

Rose, formerly a maintenance worker with no specific rank within the Resistance, was assigned to Black Squadron as a Lieutenant mechanical engineer. Her face lit up when she received the news, and that night, she partied with Jess, Snap, and Karé a little too hard. She received a harsh reprimand from Leia the following morning, when she was late to her first scheduled squadron meeting.

No one expected what the General told Poe the next day.

“Captain Poe Dameron,” she said, her voice strong and clear, “You are hereby grounded as a starfighter pilot of the Resistance, pending an official _court-marshalling_ regarding your actions following the evacuation of D'Qar. You are not to leave the base. We will arrange to discuss your case in two days.”

Poe nearly fell over. He felt light-headed. His balance gave out, and he found himself leaning on Finn for support. His vision went hazy for a moment. After he finally dragged himself upright, he slapped himself awake and cried out, “Are you _crazy?_ ”

“Watch your tone, Captain, or we'll have insubordination to add to the list,” the General replied curtly. “If you wish to speak with me about this, I will be in the briefing room in a few minutes. We'll talk there.” She turned and walked off, her business complete, leaving a stunned Poe, Finn, Rey, and Rose to watch her go.

As soon as the General was out of earshot, Rose leaned in and whispered, “She's not serious. Right?”

Poe slowly shook his head, still kind of staring off into the distance. “No,” he said, just as slowly. “She's serious. She used my rank _and_ my name _._ She _never_ uses my rank with my name.”

Rey crossed her arms, confused. “Court-marshalling? That's like getting arrested, yeah?”

“He's going to have a trial on his actions,” Finn answered. “In two days, it sounds like.” He was still hanging onto Poe to help stabilize him. “Hey. You okay?”

“I need to sit down,” Poe muttered. And with that, he fell onto his knees, there on the tarmac.

 

“I want you to know I'm on your side on this,” Leia told Poe, both of them sitting at a large table in the briefing room. Finn and Rey had accompanied him to see her, and stood outside the door, awaiting any news. Rose was forced to return to her duties as the mechanic for Black Squadron as quickly as she could.

“You are?” Poe asked, somewhat surprised. It was the General, after all, that had given him the subpoena.

The General nodded. “I am.” She leaned forward. “Poe, you were given an impossible situation. Holdo witheld information from everyone on that ship until the last moment – that was her mistake. _Your_ mistake was not trusting those above you. But after what you'd just witnessed, with the Starkiller base, the Dreadnaught, and the _Supremacy_ bearing down on us, you felt like there was no option but to act. And for that, you have my sympathy.”

Poe's gaze shifted around the General's face. Her eyes were kind, focused, and unwavering. She was telling the truth.

“But the fact of the matter is that you essentially staged a coup,” Leia continued, leaning back and resting in her chair. “With Connix and Tico back with the fleet, following your instructions, we almost had a full-on mutiny. Luckily, I'd awoken minutes before Rose had tried to break onto the bridge, and was able to talk her down. When she mentioned your name, I immediately understood what was happening.”

Poe's mouth went dry. He blinked away the uncertainty – this was really happening to him.

The General looked down at the table, unwilling to talk to Poe's eyes regarding her final point. “And your actions inadvertently sold out the escape plan, crippling our numbers. We lost over three hundred people in those shuttles, because your codebreaker traded that knowledge for his life.”

Poe looked away from the General, focusing instead on a very specific point on a horizontal crack in the wall. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears. His face was hot. He swallowed nothing several times. His knuckles were white as his clasped hands squeezed one another. The truth was that he didn't need anyone to tell him that – he'd lived through night after night of hellish nightmares, thinking about what it must have been like for Rose to watch the Resistance die, one shuttle at a time, helpless, trapped in an unarmed shuttle.

“That _particular_ point is...unfortunate,” Leia continued, looking back up at Poe, “but it was essentially out of your control.” She leaned forward again and placed her hand on Poe's, bringing his eyes back to her – they were lined with tears. “I am very sorry, Poe. Moreso than you could ever dream.”

A few minutes later, Poe emerged from the briefing room to be silently greeted by Finn and Rey. None of them said anything, and they quietly made their way to the mess hall.

 

“State your name, please, for the record.”

The Rebellion base had a small auditorium it would use for large-scale briefings, which Leia had used the past two days to turn into a courtroom of sorts. The lights overhead were bright, and the seats cleaned. It felt sterile, despite its lack of use over the past forty years. But the worst part was the stage in the center with a small table and chair, where a man in a flight jacket stood with his hands at his sides, his eyes fixated on the wall behind the General's head.

“Poe Dameron, Captain of the Resistance, leader of Black Squadron.” Don't look at Leia. Don't do it. If you do it, you won't come back from it. The thoughts were racing through Poe's head, and he fixated on that wall like his life depended on it.

“You may be seated, Captain,” an Admiral from Starchin Arm announced.

Poe did as he was told, glad to be able to look away from the four heads of the current Resistance. General Organa was flanked by Commander D'Acy, as well as two Admirals that Poe had not met, but had heard of: a Corellian named Tia Orenza, and a Mandalorian human named Enteich Rall. Orenza was famous for flying a modified X-Wing in the Civil War that did not use an astromech, and Rall was known for having convinced many of Mandalore's multitude of ethnicities to support the Republic, shortly before the Starkiller base's attack.

“Captain Dameron,” Rall began, reading from the datapad in front of him, “you are hereby charged with multiple counts of insubordination, and one charge of carrying out unapproved missions in the name of the Resistance.” He looked over his pad at Poe. “How do you plead?”

Poe's tongue stuck in the back of his throat. None of that was wrong – in fact, if he weren't serving with Leia herself, Poe probably wouldn't be any higher than Lieutenant at this point. He swallowed hard, looked Rall in the eye, and said, “I plead guilty, Admiral, to all accounts.”

The Admirals exchanged surprised looks, then looked at Leia as if she could explain. She knowingly just nodded, and they returned their hard gazes to the Captain. “Captain, admitting your guilt could render you dishonorably discharged, or even arrested,” Rall explained.

Poe's voice was much clearer and more focused than he felt at that moment. “I understand, Admiral. As much as it would pain me to be removed from my position in the Resistance, I have to take responsibility for my actions.” _Because no one else can. Maybe if I do, the nightmares will stop._

Behind Poe, there were three rows of seats, filled to capacity with a variety of faces, including Chewbacca, Finn, Rey, Rose, and the rest of Black Squadron. BB-8 and C-3PO sat to the side in a station dedicated to droids of some importance to the case.

Finn couldn't see Poe's face from his seat, and that made him nervous. Poe's carefree nature had been tested time and again recently, and it only served to make Finn admire his tenacity more. He had Rey's hand in his, the two of them praying to whatever powers there may be that Poe would find a way out of this situation.

“We will have an opening statement from the accused,” Admiral Orenza announced.

Poe stood to his feet and cleared his throat. _Time to come clean._

“I am Captain Poe Dameron, and I have proven myself time and again to be loyal and useful to the Resistance's cause,” he began, his voice loud and strong. “I am a talented fighter pilot, my people listen to me, and few can brag the number of successful missions I have performed in the name of our organization.” He paused, taking in a moment to gather his composure before he began to falter. “I am a force to be reckoned with, in and out of the cockpit. I am many things. I have done many things. And one of the things I have done is inadvertently killed over three hundred of my fellow Resistance members above the skies of Crait.”

The room broke out into hurried murmurs, but Leia held up a hand, and the room quieted.

“I have watched friends die,” Poe continued. “So many friends. I have seen battles that have left me lying awake at night, wondering how I survived. I witnessed the destruction of the Hosnian system by the Starkiller base. And yet, none of it has come close to what I feel for the Resistance, and what I did to it.” He looked back at his row of friends, but Finn didn't see him look _at_ anyone. He was just using the direction for emphasis, it would seem. “I have risked the lives of myself and many a Resistance member for what I thought was the best or only route available to me.”

He turned back to the judges' panel. “I made a snap decision while fleeing the First Order. After we evacuated D'Qar, I forced our brave men and women to continue our strike against the Order's dreadnaught, which wound up costing us many lives. Then, after being demoted by the General for such thoughtless actions, I approved and participated in a mission to track down a codebreaker to allow a small group of us to sneak onto the First Order's leading ship, thinking we could disable the hyperspace tracking beacon. That plan required overriding Vice Admiral Holdo's instructions aboard the Resistance fleet once the tracking beacon was down. We failed, placing Finn and myself in peril.” He paused, and couldn't help but look away from Leia's eyes. “That near-sacrifice alone has kept me up at night.”

Finn's breath stopped and he squeezed Rey's hand harder. Getting caught on the First Order ship _had_ almost resulted in their deaths, but Poe blamed himself for it? It was just how the mission turned out – there was no blame to be had. Finn desperately wanted to object, but quickly realized it was not his place to do so. So he suffered in silence, watching the broad back of his best friend stand and be judged.

“The man we picked up to allow us onto the Order ship turned out to be untrustworthy, and struck a deal with General Hux to be let free if he revealed the Resistance's escape plan,” Poe concluded. “It was my lapse in judgement when agreeing to work with him that resulted in the Resistance's deaths.”

“Thank you for the recap, Captain, but that's not so much an opening statement as an admission,” Admiral Orenza noted.

Poe gave a curt nod, his brow furrowed. “Yes, Admiral. Because I have no statement to make. It's my fault everything happened the way it did.”

Leia shook her head. “No, Poe. It isn't.” She gestured to Commander D'Acy, who held up a datapad in front of her.

“The panel would hear testimony from one Jessika Pava,” D'Acy called out.

Poe couldn't help but smile, but by the time Jess had made it to the testimony stand on the side of the auditorium, his heart had begun to race again. What kind of questions could they ask her?

“Lieutenant,” Admiral Orenza began, looking Jess in the eyes from across the auditorium, “Can you please tell us about your commanding officer as a member of Black Squadron?”

“Oh. Uh, sure,” Jess replied, obviously a little off-balance from being called as a witness. “The Commander – ah, I mean Captain – is a great pilot and has gotten us out of more jams than I'd like to count. He's compassionate, especially with the droid-folk, and usually has a very level head on his shoulders.”

Finn's heart lightened in his chest. He hadn't heard much about Poe from the rest of the Resistance. It was almost inspiring to hear their thoughts on him.

“Poe's the type of soldier who is willing to risk himself for the greater good,” Jess continued. “On one Black Squadron mission, he tried to sacrifice himself to save us from a bomb-ridden fuel transport. But then, after we refused to leave him alone, he realized how he could turn a bad situation into a good one, and we wound up procuring a huge fuel supply while dealing a minor blow to the First Order, all without inciting a real war.” Jess stopped and gave Poe a cocky smirk. “The man's a genius, in and out of the cockpit, and I'd follow him to Alderaan and back.”

“Thank you, Miss Pava,” Admiral Rall said. “You may return to your seat.”

Jess stepped down from the testimony seat and walked past Poe, putting a reaffirming hand on his shoulder as she passed. He admired her optimism.

“The panel would hear Captain Finn's testimony,” Commander D'Acy called out.

Poe's eyes widened as a cold sweat shot through his veins. He heard the soft footsteps of his friend approaching the stand, and Poe found himself reaching out and grabbing Finn's arm.

Surprised, Finn looked down at his friend. “Poe?”

Poe looked Finn square in the eyes, as sternly as he could manage. “Give it to them straight, Finn. Don't you dare try to save me.”

Elsewhere in the room, Leia smiled.

Finn looked down at Poe's hand, guilt in his eyes, and nodded. Poe released his grip, and Finn approached the testimony stand.

“Finn,” Orenza began, “if you could please give us your account of the mission which resulted in the First Order destroying our fleet.”

Finn thought for a moment, his hand reaching up to his chest and feeling the hard metal ring at his sternum. He nodded, and began his tale. He recounted the discussion he'd had with Rose near the escape pods. The decision to withold the information from Holdo. Poe's decision to take charge on the mission, and Rose's willingness to work with Connix back with the fleet. He told the panel about Poe's concern for Finn, and for his empathy when it came to worrying about Rey.

Continuing his story, Finn detailed their Canto Bight excursion. How everything probably would have gone fine if Poe had left his handblaster on the ship. The incarceration, where they met their “master codebreaker.” Their escape and chase through the city. How Poe was so anxious to return to the fleet, and how their ship was destroyed. He told the panel about Poe's dismay on the cliffside at realizing how he'd failed the fleet, and his near-unwillingness to go on.

Finn told the panel about Poe's anger at DJ for asking for something in advance, and giving up his mother's ring as payment. How that tore him apart. The downtrodden, beaten soldier, unsure if he'd made the right decision, based on the events leading up to that point. He told them about Poe's bravery on the First Order ship, patrolling on his own so the codebreaker would have ample time to do his job. How, just like Finn, he'd been caught by the First Order's technology, not a misstep in their actions.

And at last, Finn told the story of how, when they were brought before Hux and Phasma, Poe refused to be trampled on. How he'd shown Finn what it meant to fight for the Resistance. How much of an inspiration he was to the former Stormtrooper. And how it had been DJ that had betrayed the fleet. How Poe attacked DJ when he found out. How, even when the two of them were being lowered for execution, Poe's eyes were kind, and guilt-ridden over watching his friend be executed alongside him.

“The escape from the ship was the easy part,” Finn concluded. “Because of Vice Admiral Holdo and BB-8, we were able to get off the ship with just cuts and bruises.”

“Finn,” Leia asked, “what was the plan for when the beacon was disabled?”

“We were just a couple of hallways down from the nearest escape pods,” Finn replied. “I knew exactly where they were, and how to access them.”

“The fleet would have had about six minutes to jump to lightspeed,” Leia noted. “This is why Rose was almost subdued for staging a coup, correct?”

Finn nodded.

“And this codebreaker you found was only found because you were incarcerated,” Leia noted.

Finn nodded again.

“And you were incarcerated simply because Poe did not relinquish his weapon to security,” Leia noted.

Finn nodded again.

Leia looked at Admiral Orenza, then Admiral Rall. She looked down at Finn from atop the judges' panel, smiling. “Thank you, Finn. You may return to your seat.”

Commander D'Acy help up her datapad once more. “The panel would hear-”

“General!”

All attention in the room moved to C-3PO, who was waving his arms about as wildly as Poe had ever seen before.

“General! Urgent news! The First Order is here, in orbit above Yavin IV. A heavy cruiser is deploying TIE fighters as we speak. We believe they know our location!”

Poe stood to his feet, his hands clenched and his jaw tight. The fighters would be in firing range within a span of minutes. He had to get to a fighter and-

-and do nothing, because he was grounded.

Poe looked up at Leia, his eyes pleading. She saw him, and she nodded. “Captain Dameron,” she called, “take your squad and defend our new home. That's an order.”

Poe saluted the General, a determined smirk on his face. “Yes, General.”

 


	2. Base, Under Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe's court-marshal is interrupted by First Order forces attacking the Resistance base. Can a grounded pilot, a rookie Jedi, a simple mechanic, and a former Stormtrooper help save the remnants of the Resistance from overwhelming odds?

The base's klaxons wailed through the air, signifying an impending air strike. People dashed to and fro, running to their various battle stations. Pilots ran for the tarmac, either preceded or followed by their astromech companions. The armory was barren in minutes, a variety of ground troops taking up weapons and finding entrenched areas from which to defend.

Finn found himself manning an anti-aircraft gun that Rose had finished working on the day before. He ran a diagnostic on the targeting mechanism and ammunition refill system. All systems were green. He tucked himself behind the shielded walls and aimed up at the sky, waiting on the bowties to show their mugs.

Rey, however, had armed herself with her lightsaber and a handblaster, taken refuge in the courtroom, and begun to meditate. She had little practical experience with the lightsaber – two battles, to be exact – and wasn't the greatest shot with a blaster. She knew she would need the Force to guide her hands if she wanted to defend herself against trained Stormtroopers.

Poe met up with the rest of Black Squadron, and were in the middle of pre-flight checklists with their X-Wings. BB-8 whined at him encouragingly from the astromech dock behind him, and Poe grinned.

“I know, buddy, it feels really good to be sitting here.”

“All fighters are cleared for takeoff,” Rose said over comms. “Go get 'em, Poe.”

“You know it,” Poe replied, his heart rushing in that familiar way it always did right before a dogfight.

Twelve X-Wings and three A-Wings lifted off the tarmac, aiming for the sky, just as Finn thought he saw a peppering of black forms barely in view. There were a _lot_ of them – easily a hundred fighters. Finn felt himself swallow hard, nerves starting to take their toll on his composure.

“Poe, how many of those things do you think you can take out?” Finn asked, his voice a little shakier than he'd intended.

“No worries,” Poe replied. His voice was strong and calm, and Finn felt his heart slow just a little. He held onto those words like they would help keep him clear-headed.

TIE fighters arrived in droves, and green bolts rained down on the base. Small explosions tore up the concrete and turf, but Finn knew such an attack was wasted – the Resistance was a capable force, and knew how to anticipate initial attacks. As such, no one had been outside a structure.

“Let's get those AA guns firing,” Poe demanded. Finn nodded and started tracking bogeys on his screen. When he hit the trigger, the gun came to life, jerking him back and forth as it fired rapidly up into the atmosphere.

“Our shields should hold against stray AA fire,” Poe told Finn, “but try not to hit us, eh, buddy?”

“No promises, but I'll do my best,” Finn replied as a TIE fighter exploded in his targeting screen. He grinned, and began locking onto another fighter.

“S-foils closed, boys, let's not get bogged down,” Karé's voice came on. “And those A-Wings should be running _circles_ around the bowties.”

Sure enough, the three A-Wings were quite literally dancing with TIES, bobbing in and out of convoluted maneuvers to avoid laser fire, while spraying the loose formations of Order ships with their own ammo. Explosions lit up the sky, and Finn felt a growing sense of excitement. They were _winning_ this skirmish!

“Foot transports!” The words shook awake from his joyous reverie, and Poe didn't seem thrilled about it, either. “Finn, see what you can do to knock some of those transports out before they touch down.”

Finn saw them – they looked almost like bloated ticks, floating down amidst the chaos of the surrounding battle. At least five of them on this side of the base, and who knew how many more. Finn grew concerned – a heavy cruiser didn't carry this many transports.

He aimed the targeting matrix at one of the transports and fired. One TIE fighter intercepted the shot and went out in a ball of glorious flame, but the transport continued to descend. Finn fired again, and again, the transport was saved by a rather heroic First Order pilot. Frustrated, Finn turned the gun to full-auto, and fired several volleys' worth of ammunition, determined to take out that transport. Finally, it fell victim to his rage, and exploded a hundred meters off the ground. Finn desperately searched for another transport to target, and did the same thing. By the time he'd taken out his third transport, the other two had touched down and were unloading their cargo.

Stormtroopers were storming the base.

 

Troopers rushed forward, firing on anything that moved, and some things that didn't. Rose was pinned down near the runways, blaster in one hand and necklace in the other. She would peek out of cover and fire a few shots before returning to her little spot, but she didn't know how much she was helping.

Rey managed to sneak her way up to Rose's cover, and knelt next to her mechanic friend. “There's a lot of them,” she observed.

“No kidding,” Rose replied hastily, before firing off a few more shots. “But I have an idea.”

The Resistance's ground troops weren't putting up much of a fight, although several Trooper bodies lay scattered across the grounds already. As the Trooper line advanced, fewer Resistance members continued their defense. Finally, the First Order was receiving no return fire, despite not having done much damage to their opponent's numbers. They halted their advance, cautious to approach.

The Force surrounded Rey, and she knew its power. From another place of cover, she could see her bounty. With a deep breath and a flick of her wrist, several barrels of fighter fluid went flying out of their shelves, scattering themselves amongst the Stormtrooper ranks.

“Do it,” Rose said.

A lone X-Wing broke off from the fight above, its pilot shouting at the top of her lungs. Her dark blue R2 astromech wailed similarly as the X-Wing opened fire, detonating every single canister of fighter fuel in the Trooper ranks. Soldiers went flying through the air, which clouded with the resulting smoke.

“Go!”

Resistance members popped up from every nook and cranny conceivable, all opening fire on the billowing smoke stack. A few red bolts returned fire, one smashing squarely in a Resistance fighter's chest, sending him toppling backwards, but overall the retaliation was limited at best. When the smoke cleared, not a single Stormtrooper was left standing. More Troopers were encroaching the battlefield, but the bulk of them had been wiped out completely.

“Way to go, Rose,” Jess Pava said. “Ivee says good job.” Jess's X-Wing angled upward and returned to the obscene dogfight above.

“Rey!”

Rey pressed her comm device into her ear to better hear. “Poe?”

“BB-8 says there was a transport that landed on the far side of the base! _They're heading for the General._ ”

 

The command center of the base was walled off behind thick durasteel doors with multiple levels of electronic locks. This, unfortunately, did not deter the First Order. Leia held the blaster tightly in her hand, her heart racing and her eyes locked on the only entrance. Beside her, Commander D'Acy and Lieutenant Connix, among a small smattering of other Resistance officers, stood resolute, blasters aimed at the door.

On the other side of the door, Stormtroopers flooded the hallways of the base, firing into every room they came across – every one of which were empty of Resistance members. There were at least three dozen soldiers intruding their space, and with each footstep, Rey grew more enraged.

 _Master Luke, grant me the wisdom and experience I need to protect those who cannot protect themselves._ She didn't know what kind of help praying to Luke Skywalker could be, but the thought calmed Rey down from the brink of a blind rage, and she relished in that feeling. She stepped out into a hallway with three Stormtroopers running toward her, her lightsaber ignited. She could feel it – these Troopers were not an issue.

They fired on her, but her arm seemed to move on its own, deflecting the blaster bolts into the durasteel walls. She dodged forward, feeling the power surge through her body. She pushed out with it, and toppled two of the Troopers to the ground before even reaching them. She twirled into the third, bringing her lightsaber down in an arc that took out the barrel of the rifle he was carrying. She brought up her blaster and shot him in the chest, knocking him back a meter. She turned on the other two and, in one clean sweep of her blade, had hacked the rifles in half. They threw their gun pieces at her and started to back up.

 _You can't escape me that easily_ , she thought, and raised her blaster, aiming at one of the retreating soldier's helmet. But a thought nagged at the back of her mind. This soldier was unarmed now, and simply trying to survive. He was no longer a threat.

“Stand up,” she ordered, gun still aimed at their chests. They followed her instructions, hands raised. “Get in that room,” she said, signalling a small barracks room to their side. They followed orders, and Rey closed the door behind them. She locked the door from her side and smashed the keypad. They'd need a torch to get out of there.

Something about her decision pleased Rey, and she allowed herself to smile.

More Troopers arrived from the south, and Rey found herself deflecting blaster bolts with little time to do anything else. But suddenly, two of the Troopers fell _forward_ , and Rey managed to deflect a bolt straight into the chest of the remaining soldier, toppling him backward. A female Resistance fighter gave a grin to Rey, and the two of them proceeded to the command center together.

More and more Stormtroopers approached them as they moved, but between Rey's deflections and her new accomplice's ace shots, they proved to be little challenge. Soon, they reached the command center, where they stood guard together.

“General, we've reached the commander station,” Rey's new friend reported into her comms. “Are you all all right?”

“Yes, Pemmi, we're okay,” Admiral Rall's voice said. “Be careful.”

“No worries, Admiral,” Pemmi replied, a grin on her face as she looked up at Rey, “we have the Force on our side.”

“Pemmi?” Rey asked.

“Ensign Pemmi Rall,” she replied. “It's a pleasure, Captain.”

Rey winced. She'd have to get used to being called that.

 

“Status report, Captain,” Leia's voice said over the comms. Poe rounded on a TIE fighter and it burst into sparks and flame. BB-8 did a droid equivalent of a “yahoo!”

“We're down four fighters,” Poe replied, switching to a private frequency. “Ground war's in our favor – we managed to take out almost every troop transport before they touched down. Thanks for that, Finn,” he added. “The herd's thinning out up here, but it's rough. They're better in atmo than we are because they don't have shields.”

“Rey has secured the command station,” Leia informed him. “With the ground war thinning out, it's time to take the fight to the cruiser.”

“Got it,” Poe replied. “I'll take Black Squadron up, and leave the pickings to our other talented pilots.”

“Approved. May the Force be with you, Poe.”

“With all of us, General.”

Poe swapped back to general frequency. “Black Squadron, break off and ascend. We're going after their cruiser.”

“Negative!” Poe almost jumped at Finn's sudden outburst. “I repeat, Poe, _do not engage their cruiser!_ ”

“Finn? What's the matter?”

“There are too many Stormtroopers down here,” Finn said. “Standard cruisers don't carry that many troop transports. I think they've got another ship up there.”

Poe's heart sank. They'd been fighting a single cruiser's reserve of TIE fighters, he knew that much. If there was a second wave incoming...

BB-8 started screaming at Poe, and soon the pilot knew why: his targeting sensors were being overrun by the sheer number of TIE fighters overhead.

 _Finn was right_.

A second battalion of TIEs descended from the skies, practically blocking the sun. One X-Wing down. Two X-Wings down. An A-Wing, gone.

“Poe!” This time, Rose. “Poe, I've got an idea! Get your guys to _ground_.”

“ _What?!_ ”

“Just do it, Captain!”

Poe didn't hesitate again. “All fighters, skimming altitude! Get out of the sky!”

All the Resistance fighters dodged and weaved their way down close to the ground, firing up at the TIE fighters whenever they could. This was a highly problematic situation – their fighters were practically sitting ducks. Only the base's thin layer of shields prevented a total annihilation of their forces.

“Poe,” Rose said, her voice quiet. “We need someone to act as a carrier. Someone has to fly up into that cloud of TIEs.”

“That's suicide,” Snap cried.

“What's the plan, Rose?” Poe asked.

“I'll spare you the details, but I can use a fighter's engine turbines as a springboard for a massive EMP. It would wipe out everything for several kilometers outside of the base's shields. Finn would just have to lock onto the fighter as it left the shield's radius with the AA gun.”

“No problem there,” Finn said. “Can't see anything outside the shields with all those bogeys.”

“You're asking for a suicide bomber,” Snap shouted.

Poe shook his head. “No. She's asking for a chance.” He took a deep breath. “Sorry, pal.” He ejected BB-8 from the astromech dock and turned his X-Wing about-face and pointed it up. “Let's do this, Rose, Finn.”

“ _Poe!_ ” Jess cried.

“You _can't!_ ” Snap shouted.

Poe turned his comms off. He didn't need to be told what he couldn't do. What he _could_ do was try to save the feeble remnants of a once-sturdy Resistance. What he _could_ do was try to make it up to those he let die over Crait. What he _could_ do was be the leader Leia wanted him to be.

As his X-Wing angled upwards, toward the apex of the base's shields, Poe was surprised at how calm he was. _This is how it should be_ , he thought. But a face flashed in his mind, startling him. Kind, dark eyes, and a wide, bright smile. Poe hadn't seen much of that smile, but he really did enjoy seeing it. He himself smiled sadly, realizing he'd never be able to tell Finn why he'd given his mother's ring to him.

 _At least he'll have something to remember me by._ As the X-Wing entered the shield's electromagnetic field, his engines completely died, a result of Rose's plan. He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, and every system in his cockpit went dark. All that was left was for Finn to fire on his fighter.

Poe leaned his head back, closed his eyes, and let his friends do the rest.

 


	3. Concussions and Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feelings are high when Poe wakes up in the medbay on the base with no memory of his sacrifice against the First Order.

The only thing Poe knew was that his head was throbbing, and it was dark. The lights in the medbay were off, the only lights coming from a couple of displays next to his bed. Even with the relative darkness, Poe found himself squinting, like his eyes hadn't focused in ages. He could see relative silhouettes scattered around the room – a cabinet at the foot of his bed; his legs under the blankets; the rounded shoulders of someone asleep with their top half leaning on his bedside; an arm, reaching up to meet Poe's.

Then he realized he could feel his fingers in the grasp of someone else.

“Ugh.” The sound escaped Poe's lips without warning, and his free hand reached up to press on his skull. He felt a bandage underneath his hand, and it made him wonder what exactly had happened to him. He couldn't remember anything but piloting his X-Wing in an extended dogfight with dozens of TIE fighters.

Did he get hit? Did BB-8 eject him? _Did BB-8 survive?_

Poe looked down at the form collapsed next to him, sitting in a chair pulled up close to the bed. In the dark, he couldn't see much, but he could see their hairstyle – short cropped, a man, probably. The hand clasping his own had much darker skin than his.

Suddenly, Poe's felt his face heat up and he jerked his hand away from the sleeping Finn's. He looked down at his own hand in the darkness. _What the kriff happened?_

Finn's form stirred and he sat up, groggy. He looked over at Poe, his eyes unreadable in the dark, but suddenly the man was on his feet, his hands on Poe's leg. “Poe!” Finn's voice was higher pitched than normal, filled with some surprise, a little panic, and a lot of relief. “Poe, you're awake!”

“Looks that way,” Poe replied, rubbing his eyes. Finn reached over to a corner lamp and clicked it on. Poe's eyes rejected the light, and he moaned. The throbbing in his head increased.

“I'll be right back,” Finn urged, patting Poe on the knee and dashing out the door. Poe sat alone in the room, trying to let his eyes adjust to the sudden onslaught of light.

In less than a minute, Finn came racing back in the door, tailed by one of the Resistance medics. Poe knew this part: lay still and let the medic do their thing. The medic went to work, evaluating the man from head to toe. The whole time, Finn stood at the foot of the bed, his arms crossed in concern, his eyes locked onto Poe. Poe realized he was blushing a little as the medic worked him over.

“So, is anyone going to tell me what happened?” Poe asked once the medic took his temperature. “All I know is that I have one hell of a headache, and that TIE fighters were involved.”

“You don't remember?” Finn asked incredulously. “Poe, you saved the entire base.”

Poe blinked. “Well, that goes without saying,” he replied with a smirk, “but what does that have to do with my injury?”

Finn laughed, and the sound gave Poe's stomach a flip. “Rose's plan. Do you remember?”

Poe considered that. He did recall Rose coming on over the comms, but...

“No, I don't.”

“He'll be fine,” the medic said as she completed her assessment. “Looks like you're gonna have the regular concussion hangover, Captain. Don't go to sleep without someone with you, understand?”

Poe nodded, realizing just how hard the throbbing in his head actually was. “Ah. Got it,” he said, putting his hand back up to the bandaged part of his head.

The medic nodded to Finn, who thanked her, and headed out the door. Finn returned to the chair next to the bed, and scooted it up to be closer. “As soon as you're feeling better,” he said, “I'm going to punch the hell out of you for pulling a stunt like that.”

Poe shrugged. “So a Tuesday,” he piped.

Finn didn't laugh. Poe felt bad for even trying.

 

“ _Poe!_ ” Jess cried.

“You _can't!_ ” Snap shouted.

Finn's comms were abuzz with everyone telling Poe he couldn't do it. He _couldn't_ throw his life away like that. Finn had somehow managed to keep firing on TIE fighters through this, his mind on autopilot, numb to the discussion at hand. He heard a click on the comms, and Jess screaming.

“He's rising,” Rose said. Finn watched the lone X-Wing raising up, pointed at the apex of the base's EM field.

“Okay. Finn. When I tell you to, lock onto Poe's fighter and fire,” she said.

Finn couldn't say anything. His hands fell from the gun's triggers, unwilling. He felt sick to his stomach, and a little unable to breathe.

“Okay...now! Finn!”

Finn didn't move. He...had to fire _on Poe_.

“Finn! _Finn!_ ”

The second AA gun swiveled in place and took aim. “I'm sorry, Captain,” a man's voice said over the comms, and the gun fired two large bolts straight at Poe's X-Wing. They smashed into the craft, and a reaction detonated high over the base. Finn felt the hair on his neck stand on end as the electical systems of every starfighter outside the shield fell completely silent. No more guns. No more engines. TIES rocketed off in random directions, some straight at the base, but most veered off into the surrounding forests, slamming into hills, the ground, tree trunks, anything. Explosions lit up the forest, trees fell over, and the skies cleared, all in a matter of seconds.

Rose's plan had worked.

Finn shook his head, unblinking. He felt...nothing. He saw nothing. He heard nothing. Suddenly, it hit him.

_Poe was gone._

Finn leaned to the side and wretched, expelling his stomach's contents.

“Oh, gross, who is that,” Jess muttered over the comms.

“I think I know,” Rose whispered.

Finn coughed, his body trying to rid itself of the thoughts in his head by any means necessary. His body shook uncontrollably, his face hot, his eyes stinging, and every muscle in his body contracted in protest to what he knew to be the truth. He had just witnessed his best friend's death, at the hand of an ally.

He felt hands on his shoulders. He looked back, seeing Rose standing there, tears in her eyes.

But then, over the comms, “ _Wait!_ ”

Karé's tone gave away the grin on her face. Confused, Rose and Finn looked out at the base, seeing a parachute in Resistance colors floating down to the ground, knocked this way and that by the concussions of the exploding TIE fighters surrounding it. Finn felt adrenaline rush his system, a cold sweat shocking him awake. He stood to his feet, watching that parachute like his life depended on it.

There, attached to it, was the limp body of one Captain Poe Dameron, hanging in mid-air.

Finn shoved Rose out of the way, his eyes never leaving that descending form. She was right on his heels, shouting on comms for a medic to the runways immediately. As Finn approached, he saw BB-8's orange little form running in circles below Poe's 'chute, signifying his landing zone. Finn reached the droid and stood in the center, holding out his arms. He caught Poe's feet and pulled him down and into him, the momentum of the descent forcing him onto the ground. He held Poe's unmoving form close, tears running down his face.

Poe wasn't in good shape. His breathing was ragged, erratic, and he was bleeding from a cut above his left eyebrow. He was covered in ash from the various explosions, and he smelled vaguely like starfighter fuel. He did, however, slowly raise his hand to take Finn's in a weak grasp. Finn couldn't hold back the tears. They ran down his cheeks and fell onto the pilot's flightsuit.

A medical team ran up, accompanied by a gurney. Rose helped Finn to his feet, and the newly-minted Captain placed Poe's body on the gurney. As a group, they rushed to the medbay, leaving the ground forces to pick off any surviving First Order troops from the crash sites. Finn never once let go of Poe's hand.

 

Poe sat in stunned silence as Finn finished his story. The younger man's eyes were glistening with tears.

“BB-8 did it,” Finn said. “We tried to figure out how you ejected, but we couldn't think of anything with the EMP disabling your ship. Then, Rose remembered that astromechs have access to certain functions of their ships using analog radio waves. BB-8 remotely ejected you from your ship right before the AA gun hit it.”

“I...” Poe was drawing a complete blank. “I don't remember that at all.” You'd think he would have rememberred the jarring exertion from being forcibly removed from the cockpit of a starfighter, but no, he couldn't seem to recall anything.

“You were ejected _above_ the base's field,” Finn said. “A bunch of TIEs slammed into each other up there. The blasts probably knocked you out. You were batted around in the air like a leaf in the wind.”

“That's why more than just my head hurts,” Poe noted. In fact, during the story, Poe had realized his left leg ached pretty fiercely, too, as well as his abdomen. “I think I've got a few broken bones here and there.”

“C-3PO gave us the probability of a person surviving a parachute descent through that kind of chaos,” Finn muttered with a smirk. “I punched it when it wouldn't stop talking.”

Poe's eyebrows raised. “You _punched_ a legendary Clone War and Rebellion hero droid? We're gonna have to have a real sit-down on that one, buddy.”

Finn's smirk turned into a soft smile. He took Poe's hand again with both of his, and Poe knew why he'd done it without Finn saying a single word.

“Finn,” Poe began, but Finn cut him off with a shake of his head.

“I will _never_ forgive you for this,” Finn said sternly, his smile disappearing. “You didn't even ask if I _could_ fire on you.”

“I...just assumed you'd do your duty, I guess,” Poe said with a shrug. The shrug kind of hurt, too. “I'm sorry.”

Finn's eyes locked onto Poe's. “I'd never be able to do that. Don't you remember why they wanted to recondition me in the Order? I couldn't fire on helpless civilians, let alone people I love.”

Poe's heart stopped. Finn seemed to realize what he'd said, and his face reddened. He looked like he wanted to pull away from Poe's hand, but didn't. He blinked, looking away from Poe's eyes, but they found them once again.

“Poe, I...”

Poe smiled and shook his head. He patted Finn's hands with his free one. “Don't worry, buddy. I'll never ask you to do something like that again.”

Finn gave a nervous smile and nodded.

 

The next morning, Poe was visited by the General and several others of varying degrees of importance, each one more thankful for his actions and sacrifice than the last, although the General did mention that she owed him a good slap for making her worry the way he did. It was a tiring series of guests, but Poe kept his spirits up, with Finn at his side the entire time. Soon, it was only Rey, Finn, and Leia in the room with him.

The General held onto the hand that Finn wasn't holding. “I've talked with the rest of the judges' panel,” she said, looking Poe in the eyes, “and, in light of your actions today, we've agreed to drop the charges placed against you. You'll have to live with your own actions, and, although Admiral Rall was hesitant in disregarding them completely, I believe that will be punishment enough.” She leaned down at kissed Poe's forehead. “Thank you, Poe. You saved us all.”

Poe closed his eyes, his heart light and free. It was true – he still had a stifling, constricting feeling in his chest when he thought of the decisions he'd made over Crait, but now he knew he would be willing to sacrifice everything to prevent it from happening again.

But the feeling of Finn's hand in his tethered Poe that thought. _Would_ he be willing to sacrifice everything, if it meant Finn would feel like he had again? Could he truly make the decision to leave Finn alone again? He squeezed Finn's hand, feeling its weight on his. The truth was, he didn't know, and he certainly didn't want to find out.

The General left to attend to cleaning up the base, leaving Poe thinking – _had_ he saved the base? The TIE fighters had been taken out, but they were only a symptom of their issues, not the cause.

“What happened to the cruisers in orbit?” Poe asked, looking over at Rey. Finn had been with Poe since the explosion, so he probably wouldn't have that information.

Rey smiled. “Beyton,” she said. “They noticed the battle and mobilized a militia to take out the cruisers. When the Order realized they were outgunned, they retreated. It was pretty impressive, really.”

“A diplomat from Beyton is supposed to be coming out to the base soon to talk about what we're doing here,” Finn added. “Sounds like it could be trouble, since Beyton is mostly an independent state, but Leia is optimistic.”

Poe's mouth turned dry. “I think I know why.”

Rey chuckled. “I bet. When she told me the diplomat's name, I could scarcely believe it.”

A sigh escaped Poe's lips and he shook his head. He knew it would come to this. He had to make sure to get better as soon as he could, because there was no doubt Leia would want his assistance with this particular diplomat.

Finn gave an interested glance to Rey. “Why? Who is it?”

Poe took a deep breath, giving Finn an exasperated look and a squeeze of his hand. “It's Kes Dameron. My father.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This concludes Part 2 of the End of an Era series.
> 
> If it seems like I'm focusing too much on Poe, fear not - his connection with Yavin IV means he's pretty front and center for these events. The arc following the next work in the series will focus more on Finn, and then one focusing on Rey. I only hope I can do them justice.


End file.
